SAN DIEGO, Calif — “Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown.” – Shakespeare
Sexy photographs of Miss California USA Carrie Prejean have hit the web, endangering her status as beauty queen and Christian spokesperson. The 21-year-old has been the target of gay activist groups after expressing her opposition to same-sex marriage to hetero-phobe and celebrity blogger Perez Hilton during the April 19 Miss USA pageant.
This morning, gossip site TheDirty.com posted a picture of a partially topless 17-year-old Prejean in pink panties, stating that, “Self-proclaimed bible thumper Miss California, Carrie Prejean, should start pointing the finger at herself for her own indiscretions. TheDirty.com has received exclusive images of the homophobic debutante that would clearly strip her of her Miss California crown.”
Apparently miffed over the San Diego native’s role as spokesperson for the National Organization for Marriage, the site is threatening to post five more equally suggestive shots.
Prejean responded to the controversy through a statement issued to the press this morning: “I am a Christian and I am a model. Models pose for pictures, including lingerie and swimwear photos. Recently, photos taken of me as a teenager have been released surreptitiously to a tabloid Web site that openly mocks me for my Christian faith. I am not perfect, and I will never claim to be.”
Donald Trump, the man behind The Miss USA pageant, told Fox News in April that, “Miss California has done a wonderful job, that was her belief. ... It wasn’t a bad answer, that was simply her belief.” Trump also called Perez’s question to Prejean “a bit unlucky” and opined that regardless of her answer, “she was going to get killed.”
Outraged by Prejean's belief that marriage should be between man and woman, pageant judge Hilton called Prejean a "dumb bitch" on his blog the following day.
Whether the brouhaha will cost Prejean her Miss California crown remains to be seen. Either way, she is the most intriguing beauty queen since Vanessa Williams, who was forced to resign as Miss America in 1984 over nude photographs and has gone on to enjoy a successful singing and acting career.
“We live in a great country; a nation that was built on freedom of speech and freedom of religion,” Prejean said in the statement. “Yet my comments defending traditional marriage have led to intimidation tactics that seek to undermine my reputation and somehow silence me and my beliefs, as if opinion is only a one-way street.”
Like the prophet Ice T once said, “Freedom of speech … just watch what you say.”
